The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure for protecting legs of a driver or a passenger by absorbing impact in vehicle collisions.
Japanese utility model post-examination publication No. 57-32043 and Japanese utility model provisional publication No. 50-2037 disclose conventional knee protective structures, which are shown in FIGS. 14-17 and FIGS. 30 and 31.
These conventional structures are unsatisfactory in that the protection against oblique collisions is insufficient, and the connection between an instrument panel and an knee protective panel is disadvantageous in appearance and rigidity, as explained later with reference to FIGS. 14-17, 30 and 31.